


Conversations With Dead People: Storybrooke Edition

by RedTailedHawkens



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s05e12 Souls Of The Departed, F/M, Going To The Underworld For Baelfire/Neal Cassidy, Rumple And Emma Are Allies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:00:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29891166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTailedHawkens/pseuds/RedTailedHawkens
Summary: Alternate 5B One-Shot. On her way to The Underworld to save Neal, Emma gets a visit from an old friend.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan, Huntsman | Sheriff Graham/Emma Swan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Conversations With Dead People: Storybrooke Edition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Redbone135](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redbone135/gifts).



> Okay, so, first off, I’d like to say that Emma going to The Underworld to get back her dead boyfriend is stupid no matter who that boyfriend is. I stand by that, and it’s one of the plots I wish the show had scrapped completely. However, I’ve talked with some of my fellow Swanfire people on here about how if Neal had lived, he would fit neatly into the role Killian held for S4-S5. Some have even argued he fits it better, and the role was maybe written for him. So, I got to thinking, if Neal lived, and the show had the same plot, but with him instead of Killian, and Emma went to the Underworld for Neal, who would she meet in the boat. Neal couldn’t come up behind her in the bug. So I was thinking, what if it was Graham? Wouldn’t that have been cool? That’s what this one-shot is and where it comes from. Comments are appreciated.

Emma jerked awake. The cot she was on was incredibly uncomfortable. She recognized the discomfort. She’s been on this cot before, first as a perp, and then as a sheriff who just got tired on her shift.

She sat up, and yep, she was at the sheriff station, behind bars. She tried to let herself out, but it appeared she was locked in.

Well, that was just great. It was so unlike her to lock herself in. She didn’t even remember falling asleep at the station. The last thing she remembered was …

It was hazy, for sure, but as she focused, it all came back to her. Neal. Neal was dead. Neal was dead, and she and his father were leading a charge to The Underworld so they could get him back because she damned sure wasn’t going to lose anybody else.

She especially wasn’t going to lose Neal again, after everything they’d been through. Not after Phoenix, and him falling through the portal with a bullet wound, and then what Zelena had done to him, and his death in that alternate world. No, she had lost him too many times, but she refused to let it stick. She refused to keep losing people she loved now that she finally had love in her life.

So the question was, how had she gone from a vessel traveling to The Underworld, to a cell at the sheriff station?

“It wasn’t a drink this time,” a voice with a distinct brogue accent said. It was a familiar brogue, so very familiar that it made her heart break. _Speaking of people I’ve loved and lost …_

She wanted to look over and confirm that it was indeed him, but she didn’t. She was scared to. What if it wasn’t really him? How could it be?

But then, hadn’t she learned to stop doubting where magic was involved. She was on her way to the land of the dead. It made sense that he would be there, didn’t it? And if it was really him, she wanted to see him. She was just so scared she would look up and find him collapsing on the floor in front of her, another man she loved who she couldn’t save.

“It wasn’t a wolf either, though we both know Storybrooke has wolves every now and then.” She heard the click of the lock on her cell, and she couldn’t help looking over at the sound. “It’s alright to come out. I don’t hunt women I work with … I could have phrased that better.”

It was him! The bad joke. The awkward wince. The tall, gorgeous, gentle man standing before her, looking at her like he used to. No, that wasn’t quite right. he still looked at her with wonder, like she was some miraculous thing he’d never seen before and couldn’t even contemplate existed, but there was a caution there too. He was afraid of spooking her, she realized. Well, she had been spooked, but now she just wanted to know he was real. In a flash she bounded at him, wrapping her arms around him, inhaling the smell of leather and forest that was just so Graham, “Graham.”

“Yeah. It’s me.”

“And you’re … no, not alive. I’m sorry. I … where are we? We’re not in Storybrooke anymore, right? Is this The Underworld?”

“Not quite. You’re on your way there, but I wanted to talk to you. To see you. To thank you properly.”

“Thank me. Why?”

“You broke the curse on me, remember?”

“I …” truthfully, she hadn’t thought about it. Yes, she’d thought of Graham. She wore a shoelace to make sure she never stopped thinking of Graham. She could still see him lying there. But so much had happened since his death that she’d never had the time to analyze what was happening in his last moments. “You remembered? Before you died, I mean. You remembered who you really were?” graham nodded, “But how? The curse was still -”

“You kissed me.” Graham reminded her.

“I know. But that doesn’t …” she trailed off. A kiss. What kind of kisses can break curses? Only one kind that she knew of, “You? I mean, we were …? Were we …?”

“I was. I did.” He smiled at her, holding her face between his hands, “I do.”

For a moment, she was right back there. She hadn’t let herself remember that moment before he collapsed in a long time. It was the moment when she had felt like she could open her heart and trust someone again. She never thought she’d feel that way. She hadn’t let herself. But Graham had surprised her. He was so gentle and caring. He was charming in the way you could only be when you had no clue how attractive you were. And apparently, he had loved her, truly loved her. And now, with the proof before her, she could admit that she loved him too, or was starting to at least. They could have been something if he hadn’t died.

But he was dead, “You didn’t deserve it, what happened to you. I should have stopped it, somehow.”

“You couldn’t have stopped it. Not then. The moment I started to wake up, Regina was going to kill me. me choosing you only made it personal.”

Something clicked in her brain, “Regina. You’re heart. She … Graham … I’m so sorry. That was my fault, wasn’t it?”

“It was my fault. Well, it was Regina’s. but it was certainly more mine than yours. _I_ kissed _you_ the first time.”

Emma chuckled through her tears, “I remember. Still, I’m sorry.”

Graham nodded, “I never blamed you. Just her.” Emma looked down, trying to ignore the guilty feeling in her gut, “I know. She’s different now. I know basically what’s happened since I died. Not all but, broad strokes, you know? I know she’s trying to find redemption and do right by Henry. I don’t blame you for giving her that chance. I can’t say I forgive her exactly, but I had to let it go enough to move on, and I don’t resent you for becoming friends with her. It means you’ve learned to open up, and that’s good. I always wanted that for you. I want you to be happy.”

For a moment, Emma thought he might kiss her. And, for a moment, she almost wanted to let him. Because their time had been so short. She didn’t want to let him go, but she needed to. It was only fair. So she stepped back, putting some distance between them, and said, “I’m … with someone.”

“I know. Henry’s father … who is also somehow from our world and Rumpelstiltskin's son? How is that-?”

Emma laughed, “It’s a long story. But I came here to-”

“Save him. I know that too. That’s why I … I wanted to see you … so much. And I certainly don’t begrudge you moving on. But my main reason for reaching out is to warn you against this. The Underworld is dangerous, and you might not make it out alive. Much as I want to see you, I don’t want you to die just yet.”

“I don’t plan on dying. But I can’t just give up. I sick of losing people. If I knew I could save you, I would have come for you too, but I didn’t know I could do this.”

“Well, the time for that is over. I moved on long ago. Of course, time moves differently here. For you, it might not be that long at all.”

Emma put her hand to his cheek, “I wish I could save you. I wish I could save everyone I’ve lost. But coming for Neal was Rumpelstiltskin's idea. He’s the one who made this possible. I don’t know what I’m doing, really. I just know that … I can’t leave without it.”

“You might have to. You might not have a choice.”

“I can’t … I can’t not fight for him.”

“You truly are your mother’s daughter. I had a feeling trying to talk you out of this was a fool’s errand, but I had to try. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise I’ll do things my way.”

“Well, I suppose that’s the best I can hope for. He’s a lucky bastard, and not just because he might get out of Hades’ domain. I hope he knows just how lucky he is.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him. And for what it’s worth, Graham, if things had been different-”

“I know.”

“Please let me say it. I think … I think I could have really loved you. I think we could have been happy.”

Graham smiled, “Just promise that you’ll be happy. I’ll see you again, someday, deputy.”


End file.
